


Penguins and Tuna Fish

by Kai_Puppet



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Blood, Crappy Riddles, Harvey is gonna need many danishes after this, I give up on trying to think of funny tags for this at 1am, I'm sorry Mother Waddles, Multi, Oswald-napping, Pissed off Fish is a hella bitch, Violence, first fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-03
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-02 15:58:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4065901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kai_Puppet/pseuds/Kai_Puppet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Jim is left a rather disturbing birthday gift in the trunk of his car, he's left to attempt to puzzle out who would be cruel enough to take the phrase "Snitches get stitches " a bit too literally for his tastes. </p><p>My first try at Gotham/ Gobblepot goodness so I hope everyone enjoys!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In a Literal sense of the Word

**Author's Note:**

> Keeping this fic a bit after what would have happened in the final ep of season 1. I'm hoping I kept everyone pretty in character but my Muses tend to morph themselves into whatever they feel like at the time so bear with me as I dive into the fun of the Gotham fandom! 
> 
> Also hoping I can keep this story updated but we'll see if the kids wanna play nice and help me with that (I'm looking at you Oswald cuz you're kind of a butt head muse)
> 
> Onto the fic!

Chapter 1:

In a literal sense of a word.

 

    

Edward grinned, his hands full of a fancy looking cake as he walked into the main area of the GCPD headquarters and over to his favorite detectives’ desks. "A man lives an average of 100 years!" he began, both Harvey and Jim exchanging glances over their mounds of paperwork before both staring at Edward as he sat the near flaming birthday cake on Jim's desk. "How many birthdays does an average man have?" he grinned wider as he waited for an answer.

     "Is that a cake? Or a flame-thrower?" Harvey laughed as Jim made a face noticing it indeed had a few too many candles. He wasn't exactly the type to even want to celebrate his birthday--preferring to treat it as just another day, but it was a nice gesture of Ed to make him a cake so he figured he would just go with it. "And really? Riddles---cut the man some slack it's his damn birthday!"

     "Yes, that's why it's a birthday riddle!" Edward went on excitedly as he set plastic forks and a few plates down and got to work cutting pieces for everyone after Jim had blown out the candles. "Do you give up Detective?!" he offered his piece of the cake.

     Jim shrugged as he watched his partner contently digging into the offered desert, never one to pass up the opportunity for sweets even if riddles were attached. "I have no idea Ed, but thanks for the cake--you didn't have to do this for me" he said taking a bite with an approving sigh of happiness.

     "One! The answer is One Mr. Gordon!" Edward declared, digging into his own piece of cake with a smile plastered on his face, happy the other seemed to enjoy the cake. "It's a play on words"

     "A good one--I never would have guessed, I had thought about guessing 100!" Jim teased as he kicked back in his chair, maybe it was okay to indulge some birthday things---just this once. "You know, Harv and I are gonna go out for a few beers since our shift is over. Why don't you join us Ed?!" Harvey busted out laughing as Edward stood still, his mouth gaping open speechless at being asked to be included, eyeing Jim like he'd grown another head.

      "This is where you just say yes, Ed." Harvey commented, busting out laughing again as he got up and grabbed his coat, Jim doing the same after putting the rest of the cake away.

     "Harvey, I don't drink---or well never have or..."

     Harvey's grin grew wider, if such a thing was even possible. "Wonderful! That means I can drink your share right buddy?!" he exclaimed smacking the other on the back as Jim met back up with them and the three headed out of the building to the car. "Ed---this isn't another stupid riddle is it? You can only bribe me with so much cake before they start to piss me off again," he gestured to the exaggeratedly large red bow that was stuck on the trunk of the patrol car.

     "I assure you Detective, I have nothing to do with the fact there's a giant red bow on the trunk of your car!" Edward declared, perplexed, the trio staring at the car for several moments before actually deciding to do something about it. Harvey pulled his gun and Jim went to pop the trunk. "Oh dear..." Jim and Harvey had their guns trained on the trunk as it opened to reveal an unmoving body wrapped in a blood soaked sheet, black tufts of matted hair sticking out of the top of one end was all the group needed to speculate who was so unlucky. "What's black, white and red all over?" he frowned backing away unsure he wanted to see the extent of the damage.

     "Not the time, Ed!" Harvey growled as he finally got up enough courage to turn the body over to see if he was even alive anymore. "Oh holy shit..." he stood in shock at the sight, It was indeed Oswald wrapped up in the blood soaked blankets and his eyes and mouth had been sewn shut with thick black thread and he could only imagine what the rest of his body looked like if they were to unwrap him the rest of the way. "Jim, this is bad...this is..." he really didn’t have any words for the sight before him, he wasn’t exactly a fan of The Penguin but this was not something he would wish on anyone.

     "Penguin...Is he even still alive?" Edward piped in, the shock apparent on his face as well as he reached a shaky hand out to touch the wounds, Oswald letting out a muffled whimper trying to move away. "Well--I answered that question.." he went on before Jim shoved him out of the way in order to pick Oswald up and take him back inside, he needed medical attention as soon as possible and he figured Lee could help him out with less questions than trying to drag him to a hospital. "Lee!--Lee! I could really use your help!" Jim yelled carrying Oswald's near limp body through the office, ignoring the stares he got from the others, finally ended up in the medical examiner’s room hoping that's where she'd be. "Don't ask questions, just please help." he cursed inwardly at how desperate he sounded, but there was something about seeing the mobster in such a injured way that was causing him to feel protective over Oswald.

     "Oh--oh my God Jim...how..." Lee began gaping at the sight of the man in his arms as Edward and Harvey stayed in the doorway not wanting to crowd too much. "Get him untied and out of his suit coat, I need to see where all the blood is coming from." She frowned when she heard Oswald whimpering again trying to lift his head up and struggle when Jim laid him down on table. "Sssh, you're safe now. Try to relax." She soothed, speaking softly--she couldn't imagine what might be going through his mind-- and shooting Jim a pointed look to try to get him to calm the other down.

     "Oswald stop, Look we're trying to help, no one is gonna hurt you!" Jim growled out forgetting the other couldn't see what was going on around him as he watched Oswald slowly tilt his head up to where he thought the voice was coming from. "Christ..." he breathed, knowing getting angry wouldn't help Oswald's anxiety over the situation. "Please just let us help, I won't let anything happen to you." He reached out to run his thumb over the thread keeping Penguin's eyes closed before he could stop himself, it was strange to feel the eyelids flutter, trying to open while Oswald released a heavy breath through his nose.

     "Fascinating..." Edward whispered, quite interested in the goings on of the room. It surprised him greatly that Oswald had even regained consciousness let alone the fact he was allowing Jim to touch him in such a way. He would have assumed Oswald’s automatic reaction would be to shy away or fight and yet he seemed to be soothed by Jim’s touches, relaxing until he must have heard Lee approached him once again. "Do you need help, Dr. Tomkins?" he frowned when he got glared at for asking.

     Lee sighed when Oswald tried scrabbling away from her, almost ending up on the floor before Jim caught him and kept him from falling off the table. "This would be so much easier if he wasn't awake." She stated, not that she blamed him for being so afraid. "This isn't going to be fun, I have to dig a bullet out and fix several bad gashes before I can even work on his face," she shook her head and stared at Jim “Tell me again why we’re not bringing him to a hospital? I don’t even have anything to numb him---this is a morgue for Christ sakes, Jim!” she felt guilty as she started in on the bullet hole without warning, wanting to get things done as quickly as he would allow her. Oswald let out a muffled scream, the thread pulling his skin causing it to rip and bleed more, Jim cringing at the sight. "Almost done with this one…promise!"

     Oswald was digging what little nails he had left into Jim's wrist, his breath coming out of his nose in short puffs. "Try to relax, Oswald, focus on my voice," the detective found himself trying to comfort him despite all that had happened between them lately. He ran a hand through the matted, greasy hair in hopes he would calm down some. Jim smiled noticing Oswald seemed to tilt his head into the touch, his eyelids continuing to twitch, blood leaking from the stitches making it look like he was crying blood. "Lee, hurry up" he urged, not expecting her to hand him a pair of small pointed scissors. "What the hell is this for?" she simply pointed her bloody fingers at Oswald's face before going back to what she was doing. "I don't know how to do that!"

     "All you have to do is make sure to go slow and don't let him move around too much." Lee replied, making it sound like were the easiest thing in the world to do. "You'll do fine, he trusts you far more than me anyway, I don't think he'd let me go near his face with scissors."

    Jim let out a shaky breath he didn't realize he'd been holding as he grabbed ahold of Oswald's chin to keep him still. "Okay, you're afraid and I'm afraid--I'm not going to cut you so long as you stay as still." He explained, he could almost hear the mobster's snotty retort in his head and it calmed him enough to make the first snip of thread. Oswald's body was completely rigid against him making him even more on edge as he tried to focus. "Please try to just...work with me, when have ever given you a reason not to trust me?" Jim let out a yelp of surprise when he felt Oswald weakly push him away. “Okay—poor choice of words after threatening to leave you for Maroni to find, but really you need to trust me right now because I’m honestly trying to help you.” He let his word sink in a moment watching Oswald closely.  “The sooner you sit still---the sooner the both of us will be out of your feathers” Edward chuckled at Jim’s lame joke as Oswald curled up on himself making Lee shake her head, Jim wasn’t exactly being the best of helpers to get him stitched back up and at the rate the two were going he was going to keep losing blood that he really needed to be keeping inside his body at this point.

     “You two, make yourselves useful and go to the nearest hospital and get a bag or two of blood for him while we finish up.” Lee stated feeling like things were suddenly not being taken seriously

     Jim frowned at his girlfriend’s tone while Harvey drug Ed out of the room to complete the task given. “I’m gonna finish this whether you like it or not.” He muttered, finally getting up enough courage to stomach finishing cutting out the thread, if only to keep Oswald from ripping it out himself seeing as how the mobster had taken it upon himself to try ripping out the string he’d cut. He gently put Penguin’s hands back in his lap before grabbing his chin again to keep him still in case he decided to fight again. In the time it took for Harvey and Edward to get back Jim had managed to get both Oswald’s eyes back open and was working on finishing with the stitched in his mouth.

     “I much prefer you with eyes rather than looking like a creepy voodoo doll.” Harvey remarked as he walked back in with Edward, who was carrying a small cooler. “I’m so nice I even brought you some good drugs, you’re welcome Cobblepot.” He shook the bag in front of the mobster’s face, who cringed slightly before Jim snatched it and put it aside for later. “If anyone needs me I’ll be enjoying a cup of coffee and a danish at my desk now that the crisis has been averted,” he paused eyeing Jim who was finally just finishing—Oswald opening his mouth hesitantly a few times to test if being free from the horrid string was really real. “You still owe me a drink when you get done with your boyfriend.”

     “Well at least you’re a bit like yourself” Jim joked noticing Oswald was flipping Harvey off while Lee tended to the wounds left on his face. “Ignore Harvey—least he meant…well” he offered one of the pills to Oswald who seemed far more interested in the water to wash it down with. “Well I can see you’re thirsty---are you hungry too? I’m sure Harvey will share his danish.” He sighed when Oswald just shook his head, letting out a yelp when Lee placed an IV in his arm to replace some of the blood he’d lost.

     “So long as you rest and don’t move around too much for a while you should begin to feel better soon.” Lee remarked smiling, extremely happy to be done with the whole ordeal as she moved to finally go wash her hands of all his blood. “Jim, I’m leaving him in your care now.” and with that she left the room, stepping outside for some air to try to figure out what exactly she had just helped with, and leaving Jim and Oswald to stare awkwardly at each other.

     Jim smiled slightly, taking notice that Oswald seemed to be getting drowsy, the pain killers clearly taking the edge off. “Harvey really must have got you the good stuff,” he joked, taking the glass of water away before Oswald dropped it. “I’m taking you back to my apartment to get some rest, I’m sure you’ll understand if I don’t trust any of your lackeys to make sure you stay in one piece.” He expected the other to protest but instead Oswald’s response was to simply lay his head against Jim’s chest and look up sleepily at him, in fact Oswald hadn’t spoken at all since the Detective had unstitched his mouth and it was beginning to unnerve Jim seeing as how the mobster was usually so talkative.

“I’ll be back okay, I’m gonna go find you a blanket or a shirt.” He was really going to need a few drinks after this. He walked out to find Edward and Harvey hadn’t gone too far, apparently waiting to see what Jim was planning on doing.

     “Oh no---I can already see it with that look on your face Jimbo.” Harvey commented, putting back on his coat figuring they were finally leaving. “That kid is gonna turn into the stray cat you fed once so it keeps coming back knowing you won’t kick it.” He shook his head before tossing Ed his coat. “Why can’t we just bring him to the club—drop him off like an unwanted baby and let Butch deal with it.”

     “Do you know what cats and Penguins have in common?” Edward suddenly remarked, grinning, seeming oblivious to the dirty looks being shot his way. When no one answered he did it for them. “Tuna—the answer is tuna! If Oswald is hungry surely he’ll eat that!”

     “ED!” the two detectives were already on their last nerves. Jim managed to compose himself long enough to explain “He’s coming home with me, if you two would like to tag along to help me I’ll offer you free reign of my liquor stash, but I’m not dropping him off when for all we know Butch or someone else close to him could be the reason he’s in such a state.”

     Harvey groaned knowing his partner had a point and because he was such a damn goodie two shoes about everything it meant he was stuck babysitting Cobblepot. “This almost seems like a fair trade, Cobblepot for booze.” he remarked with a shrug “I’m in---you in Ed?” he saw the other nod which made Jim feel a bit more at ease.

     Finally finding a blanket in the locker room Jim returned to find Oswald sound asleep with Lee standing over him making sure he was still doing okay. “Lee, I’m sorry, I hope you’re okay.” he began to apologize before being abruptly cut off by a slap.

     “Don’t ever make me do something like that again” Lee said softly looking slightly in shock “Sorry—I shouldn’t have hit you I just..” Jim quickly closing the gap to kiss her in hopes of smoothing things over, Lee smiling at him when they parted. “His eyes are starting to swell some so he may not be able to see very well for a few days. I would suggest an ice pack on them later when he wakes up, otherwise if you just keep his other wounds from getting infected Oswald should heal up just fine.”

     Jim nodded, trying to take everything all in as he kept staring at Oswald’s sleeping form. “Ice—right, I can do that.” He mumbled, trying to get rid of the image of a terrified, broken looking Cobblepot out of his head as he kept staring at the sleeping man. “Really, thank you Lee.”

     “Just don’t let it happen again, I really don’t want this to become a habit.” Lee commented, handing him a small bag. “Stuff to help you with him tonight, you’re welcome Jim.” She kissed him again before walking out to head home for the evening. “Call me if you need me!”

     “What in the hell did I just get myself into?” Jim pondered out loud as he wrapped Oswald in the blanket he’d found, very much ready to just get home before shit hit the fan again.


	2. If Three is a Crowd..then four Is?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well would you look at that, I've made it to chapter two without much issue (or Oswald trying to off me) 
> 
> This chapter should really be called "would you like some angst to go with your story" 
> 
> get your tissues ready >____>

 The trio had made it back to Jim’s small apartment in one piece and were currently in varying states of inebriation due to the amount of liquor bottles spread out on the coffee table. Ed and Harvey looked relatively content on the couch, each with their own drink of choice. While Jim, whom had chosen his usual chair next to the window, had recently vacated his seat to go check on Oswald.   
“The bird will keep, it’s not like we’ve heard a peep out of him!” He heard his partner shout, followed by obnoxious laughter on Nygma’s part at the fact Harvey had made another bird joke. “Sit down and relax Boy Scout!” Jim ignored the two and headed for his room where he’d left The Penguin to rest.  
    Edward grinned, his head resting on Harvey’s shoulder while he rubbed the other’s beard as if he were a cat. “I don’t think Detective Gordon liked your joke” he laughed, clearly already buzzed from what little he’d drank. “Harvey…why didn’t you tell me your beard was so soft?” He tilted his head closer, his glasses falling halfway down his nose as he stared at the other still giggling.  
    “Nygma, you freakin’ light weight, I’m not near drunk enough to think you’re a pretty girl yet so just go sit your ass back over on your side of the couch.” Harvey shot back, pushing Edward’s glasses back up right for him before trying to shove him over. “I wasn’t exactly wanting you to pet my beard so why would I care if you think it’s soft?” he drank the last bit of whiskey in his glass with a shudder.   
    “Fun fact!” Edward nearly shouted before Harvey tried to playfully smother him with a pillow knowing Jim would be pissed if his loud mouth woke up Oswald. “The average man wastes 4.5 months or 139 days shaving unwanted facial hair.” He went on, though muffled, until he managed to shove the pillow away and go back to trying to pet Harvey’s face. “Harvey, I’ve been wasting so much valuable time! I should grow a beard!”  
    “No, you don’t need a beard you should just drink this and keep your dead people hands to yourself, cuz if you’re still able to spout off your fun facts then you’re still too sober for my tastes kid.” Harvey commented trying not to completely lose it laughing as he poured the other man a glass of wine, not exactly surprised when Edward grabbed the bottle from him instead. “Atta boy Eddie! Hey Jim, I think there’s still hope for him yet!” the two watched a very haggard looking Jim coming back out of his room to join them “Would you just sit and relax? Penguin is fine, thanks to you of course, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind being ignored for five seconds to enjoy this lovely glass of whiskey for a job well done!”  
    “So says the man who told me he’d do the job for me if I didn’t put a bullet in his head,” Jim reminded as he sat down gratefully taking the glass, clinking it with Harvey’s, before taking it like a shot and pouring more, much to Ed’s amazement.  
    “Yeah, a bullet—Cobblepot wouldn’t have cared cuz it would have been quick--painless maybe.” Harvey nearly snarled, frowning, not liking what Jim was implying exactly. While he never claimed to be a saint, Harvey could rest easy knowing he wasn’t that type of sicko that truly got off on hurting others. “Dislike him or not, I’d never do the kinda shit we just had to fix earlier.” He sunk slightly in his seat upset by what Jim had said. After a few moments of awkward silence he asked “How’s he doing anyway?”  
    Jim sighed shaking his head, “He’s breathing so I’ll take that as a good sign, he’s still sound asleep and I’m content to leave him that way because I honestly don’t know how he’s going to react when he wakes up.” He answered; frowning at the thought. He would consider himself extremely foolish to think Oswald would act normally when he woke up, choosing to chat it up and actually tell him what happened so maybe he could help him. No, Jim figured with how silent he was being earlier that a quiet storm was brewing and Oswald would no doubt either react with violence or have a mental breakdown after something like this. “Let me put it this way, I’m not looking forward to dealing with the fallout from this, so the longer he’s out cold the better.”  
    Harvey nodded. “I’ll drink to that” he remarked downing the last of his glass noticing Ed looking a bit sick, “Right Ed…you gonna make it buddy?” He pat the other’s back before Edward tried to dart for the bathroom, stumbling nearly on top of Jim with how drunk he actually was. “Okay, Okay, I’ll help you…” he got up to help the poor man to the bathroom  
    “How is it you manage to get him that wasted already, Harvey?” Jim called chuckling softly and feeling slightly bad for their resident nerd, he would have one hell of a hangover in the morning.   
    “Not like I was babysitting!” Was Harvey’s the reply along with the joyful noise of Ed puking “I warned you light weight, and now you get to see how fun puking and hangovers are!” Jim just shook his head, a slight smile on his face. He was truly happy to have his two closest friends over, he wasn’t sure how he’d deal with this situation without them. He was interrupted from his musings by a loud whine coming from Nygma as his partner lead him back out to the couch. “Lay down before you regret it Ed, and no more booze but if you sit here like a good kid I’ll get you some water.”   
    “But I have to help Jim with that strange bird…Cobbler…Cobblehot…” Edward slurred smiling dopey at the two as they got him to lay down, Harvey bringing water and Jim covering him in a blanket hoping to any God listening he’d just shut the hell up and go to sleep. “He’s most unwell in any case.”   
    “Unwell is putting it mildly Ed,” Jim chuckled tucking his very drunk friend in for the night. “Oswald is fine, I’ll take good care of him if he wakes up, now go to sleep and I’m sure you can see him in the morning.” He plopped back down in his chair and poured himself another drink. “Harvey---he doesn’t drink and we’re keeping it that way got it!” He glared at his partner who was laughing into his glass at all of this.  
    Hours later found Edward passed out cold on the couch, glasses halfway hanging off his face as he snored loudly. Harvey had taken up Jim's other chair, his face resting in the crook of his arm with his hat half covering his face while Jim sat dozing, just about asleep when a loud crash made him bolt out of the chair, wide awake with his eyes darting around the room wondering how the other two had managed to sleep through it, until he remembered how much more to drink they'd had then himself. "Shit, Oswald...." he remarked as he headed for his room. The other must have woken in a panic judging by all the noise and he had no idea how he'd react when he opened the door. "Oswald! Hey it's me Jim, I'm opening the door to come help you!"   
    Jim frowned when he finally got the door opened to find his lamp and a drinking glass shattered on the floor along with a few books he'd had on the nightstand while Penguin seemed to be tangled in the blankets, struggling on the floor with his head bleeding again. "Let me go!" Oswald sobbed, nearly going still when he heard footsteps, curling into himself as Jim knelt down to his level hoping to somehow soothe him. It was extremely unnerving to witness such raw fear from someone who he was used to seeing so cheerful when he was around him. Jim had a feeling such a reaction went deeper than just the physical wounds he'd seen earlier and he was beginning to almost not want to find out what kind of situation it was that couldn't be bullshitted out of with that silver tongue of his.  
 "Please don't hurt me..." In away it was the most reassuring thing in the world to hear Oswald talk, even if he seemed to be only begging for his life---it made Jim feel like there was somehow hope to get back the cocky, awkward, self proclaimed King of Gotham he had grown accustomed to dealing with  
    "It's Jim---Oswald you're safe remember..." Jim tried, hoping the words would click and override the panicked flight or fight mode Oswald seemed to be in. The detective moved forward in order to try to help him get untangled from the sheets, only to end up with a nice chunk out of his hand. It happened the moment Jim touched Oswald, causing the other to lash out with a piece of glass. "Of course you’d attack me, why would I think otherwise?!" He grumbled, grabbing for his arm. Jim didn't exactly like the prospect of a mostly blind Oswald swinging around the piece of glass haphazardly in fear; luckily it was easy to disarm him in his current state. "Please, I mean you no harm---just trust me and everything will be alright." He wasn't sure he believed his own words but it seemed to work in his favor as he pulled Oswald close into a hug. The Penguin struggled a few moments before letting out a sob and going slack in his grasp, breathing heavily.  
    The two stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity before Oswald whimpered again. Oswald’s entire body hurt. He'd never felt so much pain in his life and Jim holding him so tight wasn't helping. He tried to push him away, but wasn't near strong enough. "Jim...." was all he said, his voice barely above a whisper but it seemed to get the point across. Jim let go of him before grabbing his first aid kit from the bathroom. He had noticed that the head wound had reopened and planned to fix it after fixing his hand.   
    "You're shaking Oswald. You need to be resting..." Jim scolded, looking Oswald up and down to try to assess his state of mind and body. He looked like death warmed over, which made him half tempted to call Lee, but he really didn't want to cause more unneeded stress on the poor man. Jim made quick work of bandaging the both of them. He tensed when he felt Oswald grab the wounded hand gently and hold it close to his chest in what he would consider an apparent apology. "It's okay, I'm okay. I'm more worried about you." Oswald nodded slowly before shying away when Jim touched his cheek trying to get a better look at his eyes. "Jesus Christ can you even see?" Oswald's eyes were swollen to the point they were just little slits, no wonder he'd been in such a panic earlier, Jim thought. Getting up once again remembering Lee said something about ice being helpful. He came back a few minutes later with a ziplock baggie full of ice and rag in hand hoping his patient would be willing to keep it on his face for awhile.  
    Oswald seemed to be lost in thought, his head back resting on the wall giving him the expression of being relaxed when in fact Jim knew he was far from it. "C--cold" Oswald stuttered, startled when Jim placed the ice on his injury. After a few minutes of squirming and whimpering Oswald seemed to realize it made his abused eyes feel wonderfully good. Jim smiled feeling a sense of pride that his efforts paid off and Oswald seemed to slip back into a comfortable silence once more. "Thank you...thank you so very much old friend."   
    "What did you expect me to do Cobblepot? Leave you in my trunk as a decoration?" Jim tried to joke as dabbed at his eyes trying to clean out the crusted blood from them, The comment making Oswald very much on edge again "I'm sorry, too soon maybe I shouldn't joke...It's just I'm not exactly the best at..." He trailed off when the other let out a choked sob before completely breaking down and starting to cry. Jim put the ice down and pulled the other close again seeing as it seemed to give him some comfort earlier. "It'll be okay, I'll help you I promise...." he ran his hands through Oswald's hair daring even to kiss his forehead gently. He blamed the alcohol on his lapse in judgement but it seemed to, if nothing else, stun the other into taking some shuddering breaths to try to calm himself. "You're not alone in this..." Jim blinked at the rapid change in Oswald's demeanor as he went from sobbing and upset to violent in two seconds flat.  
    "Alone James? What would you know about being alone?" Oswald sneered, his voice dripping venom while he shoved Jim against the wall using him for balance to force himself up to stand. His bad leg buckling almost right away unable to handle any weight on it after the abusive ordeal he had been through and he fell with a cry on top of Jim. "I'm completely alone! Butch betrayed me...abandoned me for that bitch and then they saw fit to take away the only person in my life who ever cared about me!" He was beating his fists weakly into Jim's chest by the end of his outburst while the other was wide eyed trying to take in this new, terrible information.  
    "Oswald....OSWALD STOP!" Jim yelled grabbing his wrists as gently as he could to get him to stop as he sat up. He didn't even know how to respond because there was nothing to say that could make it better. He knew Oswald would be out for blood once he was well enough to do so and he feared there was nothing he could do to stop any of it. "Fish...Fish Mooney, is that who did this?" It was the only person that came to mind that Butch would be dumb enough to double cross Oswald for. He was sobbing again, but Jim would rather have tears then him trying to hurt someone else or himself.  
    "She made me watch the whole thing," Oswald added his voice cracking while he hid his face against Jim's neck. The action making the other blush despite the situation. "I begged for her life, it didn't matter though---I don't remember much after that ...something about I was too loud so she told Mr. Gilzean to shut me up." He frowned and touched his lips. "They mocked me, and purposely did anything cruel to get me to scream when she was sewing my lips together." he shook his head and let out a humorless laugh.  
    "Oswald..." Jim whispered feeling like he couldn't breathe, it was hard to take all of what he was saying in. He felt sick to his stomach and wanted nothing more than to get up and leave the room for some air but with how vulnerable the other was he didn't dare leave him alone. "You didn't deserve any of this and I'll help you make it right," he brushed the bangs out of the other's face. "You're not alone..."   
    "How very noble of you James...I don't need your pity." Oswald snapped wrenching his head away from the other, feeling stupid for being so weak and letting everything spill out. He could take care of the situation on his own and if Gabriel was still alive he would be more then willing to help as well, he just needed some time to recuperate. "I--I don't feel so good." The room was spinning for a moment before going dark and Oswald went completely limp against Jim.  
    "Oswald...?" Jim called shaking him, frowning when he didn't wake up. Jim picked Oswald up with a sigh, if he was gonna keep an eye on the other he was at least going to be comfortable while doing so as he got situated on his bed with Penguin in his lap. "It'll be okay," he kept whispering, he was truly shaken up more than he cared to admit as he covered the both of them up, closing his eyes in hopes of getting some sleep. "I'll make it okay, Oswald, as best as I can." He ran his fingers through the other's hair drifting off, nightmares of Oswald's ordeal playing out in his dreams.   
    The first bit of light woke Harvey with a groan. "Ugh my head..." he muttered as he glanced around the room slowly. Edward was still sound asleep only now halfway off the couch which Harvey quickly fixed by pushing his head back up before he hit it on the coffee table. The only thing that seemed to not be in it's proper place was Jim, seeing that he was no where to be found. "Cobblepot must have woken up..." He said out loud, getting up to investigate while on his way to the bathroom. Harvey peeked around the corner noticing the door to Jim's room was open, what he expected to see was his partner maybe somehow fixing the mobster up or getting some hopefully useful information out of him but instead he found him propped up on a few pillows snoring sound asleep with Cobblepot curled up against his chest with the blanket pulled up to his neck. "Oh this is too perfect..." he chuckled, walking off toward the bathroom, he couldn't wait till Jim got up later. Oh he was gonna give him so much hell.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Cobblepot has informed me I owe him a car chase scene to make up for what he calls "a bunch of bullshit" so maybe look forward to that in the next chapter! I'll look forward to hearing everyone's lovely comments!
> 
> till next time~


	3. Falling Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! (and the probable shitty spacing Archive is being a shit tonight) Welcome to the next chapter! 
> 
> Gabe smite me down for what I've done to Mother Waddles....I am so sorry XD 
> 
> though if it makes up for it I've already started writing the next chapter since I still owe a Penguin a car chase and Victor muffins apparently
> 
> in any case I'll let you all read~ can't wait to see what people think!

It was nearly noon before Edward even thought about opening his eyes, immediately regretting it with a wince, everything seemed so extremely bright. “I don’t drink…” he whined out loud, feeling his stomach protest a bit more than his head. He made a stumbling dash toward the bathroom much to Harvey’s amusement.

      “Here smarty pants…this will help”. Harvey teased when Edward finally managed to crawl his way out to the kitchen and onto a bar stool, holding his head and looking pathetic. Edward eyed the offered toast and coffee as if it might jump and attack him. “I’m a pro, trust me” Harvey chuckled again taking in the sight of the disheveled man before getting up and pouring another cup of coffee.

      “Kill me” Edward whined, laying his head on the counter while munching on the piece of toast. “Say toast 5 times, spell toast 3 times and say toast 10 times before spelling it backward.” Harvey gave him a look that clearly meant shut up, but he continued anyway before taking a sip of his coffee. “What do you put into a toaster, Detective?”

      Harvey shook his head as he made up the cup of coffee just the way he knew Jim liked it. “Ed, if you can still think up riddles to annoy me—you’ll live” he remarked slightly amused that he could even think of anything, with how shitty he must feel as he took the mug full of coffee intent on going to see how Jim was fairing. “Now if you’ll excuse me I have a partner to go pick on.”

      “Partner…? Oh yes Jim!” Edward remarked after it dawned on him that he was not at home and this was Detective Gordon’s apartment. “Wait…where is Jim…still in bed?” He followed Harvey into Jim’s room. Half of the piece of toast hanging out of his mouth, coffee in hand. “Oh dear, he’s going to wake up with a sore neck if he slept like that all night!” He smiled at the sight of Oswald curled up against Jim’s chest with his head nestled under his chin, which unfortunately for Jim left his neck at an awkward angle.  

     “What’s this bullshit Jimbo” Cuddling mobsters without me? I’m hurt” Harvey announced shaking the other, Jim startling awake nearly knocking Cobblepot off his lap when he jumped, looking around his room wildly before realizing it was just Bullock. “Whoa…don’t have a heart attack!” Oswald lifted his head after having been so rudely woken up, his brain feeling fuzzy on the events of the past 24 hours trying to slowly figure out where he was once again. His ears were ringing with the fact someone was being ungodly loud. So he decided to use his sense of smell to figure out just who was in the room with him. “The punk just sniffed me and made a face Jim!”

      It took Jim a minute to realize Oswald was even awake as he watched the other slowly try to sit up only to seemingly decide it was much more comfy lying against him. “Well in his defense Harv, you did wake him up and even I can smell you so a shower might be in order” He teased covering The Penguin back up hoping he’d go back to sleep if everyone would be quiet enough. “Scare us both half to death and you expect pleasantries” he rubbed the back of his neck, not enjoying the fact it was stiff and sore from sleeping damn near up right.

      “I made you coffee boy-scout, you better be nice to me or I’m gonna drink it for you.” Harvey teased seemingly unfazed as Ed seemed to stare intently at Oswald. “You know for wanting to have company in your room, you’d think you’d pick up a bit first” He gestured to the mess Oswald had made in his panic. Jim quickly shot him a look to hopefully shut his mouth, “So touchy when Penguins don’t put out.” If looks could kill Harvey would be dead, even unable to see exactly what he was glaring at, Oswald was offering Jim’s partner the best glare he could come up with while feeling like death.

      Jim slowly got up trying to make sure not to move Oswald too much as he got him settled on the pillows and giving him a once over with a sigh. His eyes looked worse than the night before, if that was even possible and it seemed as if there was a small blood stain on his sheets. On the plus side, he didn’t seem to be in a panic and had some color to his face finally, so Jim would take it as a small victory. Now if he could keep him from trying to off Harvey he would be set. “Hey I’m gonna start some breakfast and set this idiot straight” he began; slightly uncomfortable with how Oswald seemed to be staring into space. “Maybe you’d be willing to let Ed clean your eyes so hopefully you can see soon, while I go out to the kitchen, I’ll make you anything you want.” He smiled, the deal seemed fair enough to him and would allow him to finally be able to detach some from the situation. 

      Edward eyed the trio like a deer in headlights. “I’d rather go back to my cup of coffee, no offence.” He stumbled through his sentence awkwardly not wanting to offend Jim’s current resident killer as Harvey pushed him toward the bed.

      “He’s all sqwak and no bite, don’t worry Nygma I’m sure you’ll charm him with riddles” Harvey remarked with a grin. Oswald curled into a ball covering the rest of himself with a blanket as Jim pushed Harvey out of his room with a frown hoping he didn’t just sign himself a death wish with the injured man.

“Mac and Cheese….you owe me Mac and Cheese…” Oswald stated softly from under his mound of blankets. Jim smiled, a simple yet odd request. He really hoped he still had a box of it left in the cupboard, as the two left the room.

      “What the hell Jim?” Harvey started up the second they were in the kitchen. “First you go out of your way to save him after we find him half dead and then you’re cuddling with him and now cooking too…what the hell happened last night?!” He sat up at the bar pouring himself more coffee while his partner went through the motions of starting to boil up water and hunt down a box of Mac n Cheese before enjoying his own cup of caffeine.

      “I---well, I’m probably in too deep already” Jim began with a sigh not exactly sure how or what to even fill Harvey in on seeing as how it’s not like his partner was exactly Cobblepot’s biggest fan and he was still having that nagging need to protect Oswald from everything after what he’d been through.

      “Course you are, you putz, now stop stalling and spit it out!” as usual Harvey could see right through him and go right for getting every detail out of him.

      “Fish is back, from what I can gather” Jim began, leaning against the counter, mug in hand. “She’s why Cobblepot ended up in the trunk of my car, because Butch sold him out.”

      “He’s in love with the woman…can’t say I’m surprised” Harvey shot back with a shrug. This wasn’t exactly new information and didn’t explain Jim’s current actions. “That’s not exactly telling me why you’re being so buddy buddy with Cobblepot Jim… I thought you and Doc hottie were a thing, and don’t tell me you’re planning on making it a three way” He grinned at the scowl Jim was giving him as he poured the noodles into the boiling water to cook. “Why in the hell would she dump him on you of all people, why not just off the stupid snitch? Lord knows she’s pissed enough at him.”

      Jim frowned, stirring the pot a little harder than intended remembering how terrified Oswald had been the night before. “She killed his mother right in front of him” he blurted, nearly choked on the words, it made him sick to his stomach. Sure Oswald had done his share of bad, even horrible things but he didn’t feel anyone deserved to witness anything like that. “So seriously, lay off the teasing… and the reason my room is a mess of broken glass is due to him waking up in a panic and almost trying to gut me.” He showed Harvey his bandaged hand as he looked around for something to drain the noodles.

     Harvey moved to grab the pot to help Jim so he didn’t have to add ‘burnt to a crisp’ on his list of current issues. “You know, I almost feel bad for the snitch, but what the hell did he think would happen after he fucked over Fish, let alone push her off the roof top.” He remarked choosing to ignore his partner’s less than impressed look as he watched Jim finish off making the Mac n Cheese. “Don’t give me that look….what exactly were you expecting me to say or do anyway? Cuz I’m not cuddling up to your mobster boyfriend no matter what sob story you tell me…” he shook his head as he took a spoon full out of the bowl before Jim walked away with it, hoping Oswald would still be in the mood to eat.

      “Just play nice and don’t say anything about it, for all I know he doesn’t even remember last night….or so I hope.” Jim grumbled as they headed back to his room to find neither Nygma nor Cobblepot there. “What the hell…” he wasn’t in the mood for hide and seek and seemed to be fuming, so Harvey pointed out that the bathroom light was on, hopefully to calm Jim down.

     “You are way too stressed out about this…I told you---just drop Penguin off and be done with it” Harvey remarked following as Jim walked to the bathroom to find Oswald resting his head on the edge of the tub while Edward seemed far to amused with trying to style his hair into devil horns with bubbles. “Now I think I’ve seen it all….have fun Jimbo, see you on Monday” Harvey started chuckling as he pat Jim’s shoulder before he went to get his things and left.

     “Oh Jim! Yes well ummm” Edward pipped nervously noticing the exasperated expression “You see Mr. Cobblepot wasn’t feeling very good and whenever I don’t feel well a bath usually helps, but he can’t really see so well so I’m trying to be useful…but I’m making sure his wounds are accounted for!” he continued to ramble until Oswald put a finger to his lips.

    “Oswald…I told you…Oswald” the tired Penguin muttered “Shut up Ed you’re making my headache worse…” he let out a content sigh when the other started playing with his hair again.

    Jim ran a hand through his hair trying to figure out his next move, least he wasn’t the one having to give the awkward, but needed bath so he’d really have to thank Ed for such a thing. “Foods ready so um finish up” was all he could get out of his mouth before turning around before anyone could catch the blush creeping on his face. Today was gonna be a long day and he was already wanting to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over his head.

    The long day turned into a long week and Jim was beginning to look forward to work a lot more than usual; even if work was also posing it’s own annoying challenges, like Harvey constantly fishing for info on Oswald and Ed had taken it upon himself to tell him every known Penguin fact, joke and riddle. Jim couldn’t decide which was worse at this point as he went through some evidence files before getting ready to call it a day and go home.

   “Do you give up detective?!” the all too cheerful voice of Edward Nygma rang out, making Jim look up confused having been lost in his own head to hear what the other was even talking about. “I need an answer to my riddle!”

   “What? Ed not now I just need to get this done, I don’t really enjoy leaving Oswald for too long” Jim groaned, rubbing his temples feeling a headache forming once again. “When did you even ask me anything anyway?”

  “Is he you’re pet or you’re lover, cuz with the way you’re talking, Jim, both sound like a possibility.” Harvey instigated mouth full of doughnut while Ed huffed at being interrupted.

  “Detectives…I asked how does a Penguin build his house?” Ed repeated a hand on his hip making Harvey chuckle while flicking crumbs in his direction.

  “Do tell Ed, I hope the answer has something to do with boy scouts who can’t leave well enough alone!” Harvey laughed enjoying the dirty looks being sent his way, dodging a pen as well.

  Edward giggled at the antics. “Oswald igloos his home…get it?” he seemed rather pleased with himself as Jim just rolled his eyes and got up putting on his jacket, the files could wait he had a nagging feeling he needed to go home.

  “Ed, that was probably the worst joke I’ve ever heard out of your mouth” Jim remarked forcing a chuckle “If I hear anymore Penguin talk I’m gonna kill you both and get away with it because I’m fairly certain Cobblepot is good at hiding bodies” he grinned walking away from his desk, toward the door.

  “No body, no Crime Jim!” Edward called waving “Have a good night, say hello to Mr. Cobblepot!”

  The drive back to his apartment seemed unbearably long and Jim couldn’t explain the joyous feeling of putting his key in the lock and walking in to his home only to find it strangely quiet. Normally he found Oswald curled up on the couch watching TV or reading, but tonight he was nowhere to be found which made Jim increasingly nervous. The Penguin may have gotten most of his sight back he still wasn’t completely healed and Jim didn’t need him out on the prowl plotting revenge, he wasn’t great at playing the night in shining armor and Harvey would never let him hear the end of it if he ended up having to. “Oswald! I’m home!” he called heading for his room thinking he could just be sleeping on the bed, only to come up empty once again. “You little shit this isn’t funny…” he was quickly losing his patients as he looked around his room when a soft noise caught his attention. It seemed to be coming from the closet and it sounded strangely like crying. “Oswald? Are you okay?” he opened the door to the closet completely unprepared for what he’d find. The strong smell of death and decay was the first thing to hit Jim before he managed to muster up the courage to look down to see what his guest was upset over. “Oh god….” He backed away slightly and started to pace his room while Oswald sat crying on the floor of his closet. They sent her head…her fucking head to her son, if Fish didn’t have a death wish already Jim was fairly certain this stunt just sealed her fate as he tried to come up with just want the hell he was gonna do about all this.

      He vaguely thought about calling Harvey, but he knew the other had the compassion of a fire at an orphanage, especially when it came to Oswald so that idea was defiantly out. Ed, he could call Ed seeing as how they seemed to get along so well a few days before…Jim was in the process of getting out his phone when Oswald’s soft voice startled him out of his panicked thoughts. “She won’t wake up” he cried, tears streaming down his face as he hugged the severed head close.

    Jim had to force himself to take several deep breathes to compose himself before he could even look at Oswald. “Oswald…your mother is dead” he reminded him as tactfully as he could as he sat down across from him, unsure of what to even do. He noticed a discarded box to his right, if he could just get Oswald to put her back in the box he would be one step closer to trying to get the image out of his head. “I know it’s hard to swallow that you couldn’t save her, but why don’t we find a nice spot to bury her” Jim made a move to try taking the head from Oswald, trying to ignore the dead stare from Gurtrude’s sunk in eyes staring at him. A familiar click of a blade in place made Jim think twice about getting any closer as he watched Oswald to see if he would attack. “I mean you no harm, put your knife away Oswald” he could tell the other was far past gone at the moment with a distance glazed over look in his eyes as he stared untrusting at Jim.

  “No! You’ll take her away!” Oswald screamed pointing the knife at Jim, his hand shaking ever so slightly.

  “Don’t touch her!” Oswald snapped, his voice shaky, the knife pointing in Jim’s direction. “I’ll kill you if you try to take her away from me!” the statement made Jim frown clearly sanity was out the window at this point. Which meant all bets were off should he choose to do anything by force.

  “You don’t really mean that—you’re angry and scared is all. You don’t actually want to end up alone” Jim remarked, trying to keep as calm as possible as he put his hands up in surrender. “You really want to kill Fish, I get that, I can help you…” He couldn’t believe he was agreeing to help with murder but at this point he’d do damn near anything to get that creepy head to stop staring at him. “Oswald, don’t you think your Mother has been through enough? Let’s find her a nice place to rest.”

  Oswald let out a loud sniffle as Jim dared to move closer to sit beside him. “Jim---I—I don’t want her to go away” he sobbed out still clinging to the severed body part as if his life depended on it, Jim doubted this could be good for whatever sanity Oswald had been holding onto as he grabbed the box and offered it to the sobbing man.

  “We’ll find a nice spot, and you can visit her anytime you want I promise Oswald” Jim soothed, softly rubbing the other’s back eventually letting Penguin cling to him until he fell into a fitful slumber, tears glistening on his face. “Sleep well Oswald…” he kissed the top of the Penguin’s head before he could stop himself. “What the hell am I doing?” He sighed flipping open his phone after he had covered up Oswald, so he could get some much needed rest. “Harvey…I know it’s late, but could you come by? I could really use some help….”

  Fish smiled as she watched the two detectives exit the apartment. "Butch, it appears Oswald didn't like my gift" she chuckled "how rude"

  "Why go to all this trouble Boss, you had him why didn't you just kill him?" Butch questioned confused as they watched Jim and Harvey drive off "hell they're gone you could probably kidnap him now"

  Fish clicked her tongue and waved a finger in front of Butch's face. "And miss the perfect opportunity to crush him?!" She exclaimed before letting out a cackle "oh no, I'm having fun playing mind games. He thinks he's so smart and that he's one step ahead so I think it's far past time to knock him down a peg or two. " 

  "Whatever you say, you're the boss" Butch said as he started the car "I still say you should be careful" he blushed slightly when she leaned over to kiss his cheek. 

  "With you by my side, I'll be just fine" fish replied smiling "let's get going I don't want to be possibly spotted when they get back, Harvey isn't as dumb as I'd like him to be at times.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now for a snack and working on Chapter 4!
> 
> toodles~~ (^w^)/


	4. Muffins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh dear me...I'm glad I have Teal and Kels to make sure this Chapter didn't turn out to be a hot mess.
> 
> Hopefully everyone enjoys this chapter~ Things are about to get dangerous and bloody in the coming chapters but for now enjoy some Muffins and getting some extra help to take on Miss Mooney ~!
> 
> I'll look forward to what everyone thinks while I go try and get the muses to listen to me!

A week and half into Oswald’s stay and Jim was more than ready for the snarky, upset Penguin to leave. The feeling in the apartment had been tense especially the last few days due to Oswald’s impulse control issues and Jim was more than willing to find him another outlet for his rage. “Alright, get up!” Jim exclaimed, pulling the blankets off the presumably sleeping mobster. "You've barely eaten, and all this moping around and taking things out on yourself is really beginning to piss me off.' He grinned when the other finally sat up to scowl at him, hair standing in ever which direction. Jim had to admit, Penguin was slightly endearing when he was being docile and not plotting murder which probably wasn't going to last for long. "You need to eat and deal with all this...I can't have a dead bird in my house."

      "Please tell me James, just how exactly am I suppose to be dealing with being sent my dear Mother's head." Oswald sneered resorting to throwing a pillow at the detective. "And I'll eat when I'm damn well hungry. I'm not a child---I don't need you pitting me by you treating me like one of your damn victims."

      Jim sighed not even bothering to dodge the pillow as it hit him square in the face. "Feel better Cobblepot? I'm not trying to do anything but help you out." he stated shaking his head, the more he thought about the situation at hand the more like a crazy person he was beginning to feel like. "I shouldn't even be suggesting this seeing as you're not healed yet and it's completely against everything I stand for as a cop, but it's past time to find Fish and make her pay for all of this." he felt a small sense of pride when he noticed a bit of fire back in Oswald's eyes as he tossed him the switch blade. The same one that he’d grabbed for safe keeping after the severed head incident. “I told you I’d help you and I meant it.”

      “Oh how this saint has fallen so.” Oswald chuckled opening the weapon, enjoying how the blade glinted off the lamp’s dull light. “Do you think your dear morals will let you keep your promise James?” a smirk was plastered on Penguin’s face as he seemed to watch the other for a reaction.

      Jim seemed in thought for a moment. “What’d Ed say? No body no crime…” he chuckled, ruffling Oswald’s messy bed head much to the mobster’s annoyance. Jim had picked up on the fact he was less docile about being touched now that he was more or less getting healed up. “I’ll be fine, but how thoughtful of you to worry about my reputation”

      “What is with you people and my hair?” Oswald snarled, trying to smooth his hair that was still out in every which direction. “It’s like an obsession that I’m not about to indulge.” He finally moved to get out of Jim’s bed. “Well, if we’re going to be planning a _fair well_ _party_ I do believe we’re going to need a bit more help seeing as I now have no men and all you have is Bullock, who by the way is a terrible shot.” he shook his head, wishful thinking of him to not have to deal with Jim’s oh so loveable partner.

      “Well, if you’re so against my better half there’s always Nygma!” Jim teased; glad Oswald at least wanted to engage instead of hiding himself away from the world. “I take that back, that sounds like a terrible idea, Ed with a gun.” He shuddered at the thought.

      “I don’t believe anyone has ever been killed by jokes and riddles, Jim” Oswald groaned, he was doomed with these bunch of misfits.    

      --

     

      Harvey let out the loudest, most exasperated sigh Jim had ever heard him utter as they sat in the kitchen of his apartment, explaining his and Penguin’s plans. “Are you out of your friggin mind?! Cobblepot is becoming a bad influence on you Jimmy-boy!” he exclaimed, eyeing Oswald who was perched on the counter using his switch blade to peel an apple; Harvey wanted nothing more than to shove the gangster off, but thought better of it seeing as how his partner seemed to keep making goo-goo eyes at him. “Even if we could find Zasaz, there’s not one damn reason he’d help us!” he slammed his hands on the counter making Oswald jump.

 Oswald rolled his eyes as he slid an apple piece into his mouth trying to calm himself before reacting to the idiot; and people called him _dramatic_ ,please. “By all means, if you have a better idea Harvey,” he countered, irked by the fact no one was helping by coming up with their own ideas and yet felt the need to pick apart his. “I don’t exactly want to deal with Zasaz either, seeing as how I’m sure he’d love nothing else then to skin me alive, but if we find the right currency and dear Victor in the right mood I think he’d be our best bet for gaining the upper hand on Miss Mooney.”

      Harvey shook his head looking at Jim hoping that his partner would speak out against the plan, otherwise he was gonna be stuck on this crazy adventure. “Oh come on now Jim, you’re not really thinking of going along with this are you?” he inquired, hoping someone would be the voice of reason in this madness.

      “You don’t have to join us, we just figured you’d be game for a fun adventure.” Jim chuckled while stealing a piece of Oswald’s apple. Harvey made a face at how comfortable his partner suddenly was with the mobster.

      Harvey groaned loudly throwing his hat at Jim. “I need a _fun adventure_ , like I need a hole in the head,” he contended, rolling his eyes listening to Oswald chuckle. “I’m doomed like usual—I’m always drug into your little _adventures_ so I guess let’s just get your little freak show on the road.” He noticed Cobblepot glaring, “Sorry did I hurt your feelings Penguin?”

      “Please, I’ve heard worse” Oswald cooed, nearly asking to incite Harvey’s wrath as he wiped off his weapon and moved to put it away figuring they would be getting ready to leave. “Going to have to do better than….” He let out a cry as he was shoved off his perch on the counter by a fuming Bullock. Unable to catch himself, Oswald sank to the floor with a sob holding his bad leg having landed completely wrong. “Your cruel nature will be your undoing, mark my words!” he snarled as Jim quickly came over hoping to defuse the situation.

      “Your spot in the trunk will be waiting Cobblepot,” Harvey mocked as he left laughing.

      Jim honestly couldn’t believe the way Harvey had just acted; sure the other didn’t like Oswald and understandably so but to go so far as to purposely shove him when he knew Oswald was still hurt, bothered him more then he cared to admit. “Oswald? Are you okay?” it was a completely dumb statement, he could see the tears that Penguin was trying to keep from falling as he moved to try to help the other back up, only to be shoved away.  

      “I don’t need your help” Oswald whimpered, his eyes shut in pain as he tried forcing himself to stand only to go sliding back down the counter. “You’re going to need a new partner, though I’m sure you’re well aware of that.” he reluctantly let the detective finally help him up. “Once this is done, he’s dead…or maybe if I’m lucky someone will do it for me…” he shoved Jim out of the way as he went for his umbrella and tried to gather what was left of his pride as he left.

      “How the hell did I get myself into this mess.” Jim grumbled stomping off after him while grabbing his coat and Oswald’s forgotten one. He was already done with this whole adventure before it even began.

\------

 

      “Well, well, well what have we here?” Victor chuckled, glancing over the top of the book he had been engrossed in as his girls brought in Oswald, Jim and Harvey. The girls had found them sneaking around the property and had easily caught them, not that they put up much of a fight. “Fish’s little pet Penguin, boy toy detective and…” he paused staring at Harvey, trying to puzzle out why he’d go along with anything that the Penguin was up to.

      “Guilt by association, by all means this is Cobblepot’s fault we’re here.” Harvey commented putting some distance between himself and the hit man.

    “So… what could the King of Gotham possibly want from me?” Victor pondered out loud, circling around Oswald, the same way a hungry shark would around a school a fish. “Rumor has it you took on Don Falcone and pushed him into early retirement and Don Maroni…well I guess I can’t be too upset over that.” he snatched Oswald’s umbrella, having observed him leaning heavily on it; cackling when the man fell over in a heap. Jim frowned moving forward as if to help, he hadn’t expected Victor to be so rough with Oswald. Before he could help Oswald up he was stopped when the hit man’s whistled and one of his ladies pointed a gun back in his face.

      Oswald growled, easily flicking out his switch blade noticing what he thought was an opening. “Don’t mock me!” he fumed lashing out at Victor and managing to slice a good chunk out of his leg before the assassin grabbed him off the floor by his hair.

      “Leave him alone!” Jim shouted when Oswald let out a shriek of pain, now pinned against the wall. “If you’d let us talk…”

      “Oh no Detective…I know all about why you’re here.” Victor chuckled, tilting his head and smirking at Oswald as he gasped for breath. Oswald tried clawing at the hand that was wrapped around his neck which had him effectively pinning him to the wall. “Fish took over your precious club.” he peered right into Penguin’s face to whisper. “Too weak to keep control, Little Prince, couldn’t even save your dear Mother.” His grin widened when Oswald’s expression became murderous. Oswald put the last of his strength into pushing off the wall, just managing to knock the assassin off balance and onto the floor.

      “You gonna do something or is this just free entertainment as well as getting rid of your Cobblepot problem?” Harvey questioned, looking at Jim for a moment before turning back to the two tangled on the floor. Jim watched in shock as the two men struggled against each other before moving to try and help. A gun shot rang out before he could make any effort towards helping Oswald and the whole group went silent.

      “You wanted muffins, I make muffins…which are done by the way” Gabe roared, very angry as he aimed his gun right at Victor. “Instead I find you beating up my Boss, which I don’t take too kindly to!” he walked over to Oswald, intent on helping him up.

      “G—Gabriel?!” Oswald’s disbelief was written on his face as his loyal henchmen slowly walked over seeming to look him over as he did so. “No…you aren’t real…it’s true I really am alone.” Oswald was as white as a sheet when Gabe bent down to see if he could get his Boss upright only to find Oswald’s shirt was wet with blood. “I—Gabriel…help me…” was all Penguin could get out before his world went black once more from blood loss.

      When Oswald next opened his eyes all he could feel was the softness of blankets wrapped around him and the fact that his body felt like lead again. Groaning, Oswald tried to sit up feeling slightly groggy as he looked around his surroundings to try to puzzle out where he was. “Oh dear, please lay back down!” it was a familiar voice, and yet one Oswald hadn’t heard enough to place. He hissed and fell back against the pillows as the room spun slightly. He closed his eyes briefly since the covers felt so warm and inviting; tempting him to drift off again, but curiosity was getting the better of him. “Jim and that rather large, scary looking man might kill me if I let you up out of bed.”

      Oswald rolled his eyes, finally placing the voice as he also found a splitting headache for his effort. “Gabriel isn’t scary…” he grumbled as Edward fussed over him while covering him back up.

      “For someone who has the name of an angel, I would beg to disagree with you Mr. Cobblepot.” Edward quipped, smiling nervously as he fumbled with his hands unsure of what to do. “I---do you need anything? How very rude of me not to have asked you earlier!”

“Something to drink would be nice….and some quiet.” Oswald sighed not understanding why the other had to talk so much as he shifted with a whimper, trying to get comfortable. Ed quickly exited the room to complete his given task only to bring back Jim and Gabe both in tow along with a big glass of juice. “I send you out for drinks and you come in with more annoying guests….how thoughtful.” He really just wanted to sleep, everything hurt, but he offered a smile to Jim as he sat beside the bed. Gabe stood close to him at the head of the bed.

    “How you doing Boss…you look a little pale” Gabe commented kneeling down so he could get a good look at Oswald, just happy his Boss was actually alive after everything.

      “As in comparison to any other day Gabriel?” Oswald chuckled softly keeping his eye on Jim. “Don’t worry I’ll be fine,” he paused to finally take note Gordon’s annoying ever present partner wasn’t around to wise-crack about anything. “Decretive Bullock didn’t want to come bring me get well flowers?”

      Jim shrugged as he scooted his chair a bit closer to the bed while Nygma hovered by the door. “He was rooting for Victor in all honesty.” he teased helping Oswald drink the juice Ed had brought for him. “You’ll be happy to know you get your wish. The hit man will help if nothing else because he’s impressed you managed to hold your own against him.”

      “He also hates Miss Mooney…” Ed chimed in cheerfully adjusting his glasses. “He even offered to teach me how to use a gun for this, won’t it be a fun adventure!”

      “Joy, Riddles with a gun….I’ll have nothing to fear then.” Oswald commented dryly as Edward seemed to beam even more that he’d just been given a nickname by the Mobster. “Out, overly cheerful one…you too James…I’m tired let me sleep a little while longer. And don’t worry, Gabriel will make sure no monsters under the bed get to me.” he still had no idea who’s bed he was even in but it didn’t matter much at the moment with his eyelids getting heavy. He had a feeling whatever painkillers he was given were kicking in and he was more than happy to greet pain free sleep with open arms.

      “Boss…” Gabe remarked softly after a few minutes of silence, causing Oswald to crack open an eye when he was almost asleep

     “Gabriel….when one says they want to sleep it usually entails being _quiet_.”

      Gabe shifted, feeling slightly uneasy with Oswald’s tone knowing he didn’t feel good and just wanted to rest. “Yeah I know, but I just wanted to say I’m really sorry that I couldn’t protect you and your Mom.” the henchmen began not noticing Oswald was trying to sit up so he could look at Gabe as he spoke. “And I’m really glad that you’re okay…” he stopped speaking when he thought he heard crying. “Oswald?”

      “I don’t want to be alone….” Oswald suddenly burst into tears making Gabe feel guilty. It hadn’t been his goal to make the other cry…in fact he’d never seen his Boss cry so the whole scene felt slightly surreal and he wasn’t quite sure what to do as he decided to sit beside him on the bed; gently grasping his hand in hopes of offering some peace without invading his space. “Thank you Gabe….least I know I have you to count on…even when Jim will inevitably leave once this is over.” He rested his head on Gabe’s shoulder, eventually being covered back up after he’d fallen into a fitful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will someone please explain to the muses they're not allowed to revolt?! send help lol (Also hopefully Archive stops posting chapter 1 ending notes on this one >__>)


	5. Of Car chases, gunshots and Dead bodies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about my long absence in posting a chapter~ I'll try to be better in the future! Also  
> Shit gets dark in a hurry, so if you're squeamish~ sorry in advance for the end! Oswald is gonna need so much therapy if he makes it through this 
> 
> thanks to my Teal and Millecant for your cheer-leading!

    Overly cheerful didn’t even begin to explain Edward’s current mood as he stood talking rather animatedly with his hands. He had completely forgotten about the fact that he was holding a loaded gun. “Mr. Zsasz is simply brilliant! I’ll be so much help!” he gushed, proud of himself. He was finally starting to get the hang of shooting and actually hitting his intended target. “I actually hit something today! More than once, even!” He grinned like an idiot while Victor raised a brow, wondering what the other was going off about, as he walked into his living room. He let out a sharp whistle as he grabbed the gun from Nygma, pocketing it in his suit jacket before planting himself on the couch between Jim and Oswald.  
    “Your gun privileges have now been taken away until further notice,” Victor informed Edward as he leaned back against the couch, stretching his arms so that they were draped around both Jim and Oswald. “You’ll be happy to know, kids, I do believe I’ve found out Miss Mooney’s location.” Jim wrinkled his nose while Oswald stuck his head out of the blanket he was snuggled up in.  
    Ed’s lip stuck out in a pout as he eyed the assassin, not liking the fact that his gun was taken away. “I thought we were going to practice more. I mean I was having fun! Even if we were using a picture of Mr. Cobble- I mean, Oswald for target practice,” he rambled. Harvey, who had been enjoying a nice, cold beer until Nygma showed up, nearly choked on it in surprise.  
    “You’re surrounded by beautiful ladies and yet you have pictures of Cobblepot lying around.” Harvey chuckled, trying to ignore the creepy look the hit man was giving him. “Not even gonna ask man. Whatever you’re into.” he took another sip of his beer, hoping to get a good buzz before they ended up embarking on another adventure.  
    Victor grinned, leaning forward toward where Harvey sat. “I have a picture of you too, Detective, but why use it when I have the real thing in front of me?” he inquired, laughing when Harvey decided it was best to move to the other side of the room. The farther away from the assassin that he was, the safer he felt. “I don’t think your partner wants to be my friend, Jim” Victor pouted playfully.  
    “You said something about Miss Mooney…” Oswald reminded, drawing the hit man’s attention back to him. His annoyance with Victor was clear on his face as he waited for a response. Victor grinned, now leaning in close to Oswald.  
    “Indeed I did. In a hurry to die, Little Prince?” Victor asked, staring intently, taking in Oswald's obvious injuries that were still very much apparent. “I don’t think you get to come out and play, Oswald. Don’t worry though; I’ll be sure to leave you some scraps of Miss Mooney to take out your pent up aggression on.” He cackled when he found himself pinned to the couch by a fuming Penguin.  
    "I'm the king!" Oswald snapped, about ready to attack the hitman again as Gabe stood and grabbed his shoulder in hopes of distracting him.   
    "King pain in the ass, Cobblepot." Harvey pipped in making a face as Jim threw a pillow.   
    “Boss, we tried this already…you lost” Gabe offered, gently peeling Oswald away from his chokehold on the assassin and putting him back in his rightful spot on the couch. He hoped Harvey’s snide comments wouldn’t add more fuel to the fire as he gave the detective a pointed look to shut his mouth before returning to his seat. “I prefer you to stay in one piece, so just sit and listen to what Victor has to say before you decide to stab his eyes out.” Oswald looked put out by the fact his own henchman seemed to be scolding him, and Jim had to stop himself from laughing at the other’s expression, worried he might be the next one to get shanked.  
    “Thank you. As I was saying before King Oswald rudely interrupted,” Victor went on as if The Penguin wasn’t now plotting the hitman's death from under the safety of his blanket. “A safe house Fish is known for using isn’t too far from here actually, and my girls tell me she and Mr. Gilzean have been sighted.” He tilted his head in Oswald’s direction.  
    “Nice to see you’re useful for something,” Oswald sneered, thoroughly ready to just get on with everything; it wasn’t as if he was going to wait till he was fully healed to take on Fish. “She isn’t going to kill herself unfortunately, so let’s go!” He moved to stand, wobbling slightly, making Jim jump up should he fall. “I’m not an invalid. I can do it thanks.” He stormed off to the best of his ability.  
    “No way in Hell. Sit your ass back on the couch, Cobblepot!” Jim shouted after him, Harvey rolling his eyes and wondering why his partner even bothered. “Are you listening to me Oswald?”  
    “He’s worse than a teenage girl on her period,” Harvey groaned as he got up, figuring they were leaving on another adventure. Gabe followed along with Victor. “Idiot is gonna get himself killed with that attitude.”  
    “Maybe he’s grumpy because he wants to nest,” Edward remarked, suddenly looking deep in thought before being tugged along by Harvey. “He and Jim seem to be slightly at odds.”  
    “I’ll let you shoot my gun if you never mention anything about Cobblepot nesting with my partner ever again, Nygma.” Harvey snorted he would need brain bleach to get the image out of his mind. "I never wanna hear those words ever again!" He put on his hat and followed everyone else out the door.  
  
    Jim frowned at the turn of events; he had been so determined to drag Oswald’s gimpy ass back into Victor’s, though somehow favor turned against him and here he was on the corner of a quickly darkening street in a less then savory part of town. Oswald was leaning far too heavily on his umbrella for the detective’s liking while they waited for a signal from Victor that they were to enter what looked to be an abandoned building. “This is stupid!” Jim exclaimed after trying to think long and hard about how best to voice his frustration with Oswald, but coming up with nothing better then what he just blurted out of his mouth.  
    Oswald laughed as hard as his bruised ribs would allow, which almost had him doubled over in pain by the time he’d composed himself. “How eloquently put James,” he teased, seeming to be amused by the statement that his cohort had taken such a long time to come up with.  
    “Don’t be cute with me, Cobblepot,” Jim chided, trying to sound angry at the mobster but failing miserably. “You’re gonna get yourself into trouble again and I’m sick of digging bullets out of you.” His eyes darted, thinking he heard something. “Do you have any concept of the fact your blood is supposed to stay inside your body?”  
    Oswald had a smirk on his face much like when he’d murdered someone and gotten away with it as he locked eyes with Jim. “Talking like that, Jim, one might think you care about me,” he teased, using the mirror of a parked car to fix his hair.  
    Jim rolled his eyes, a slight smile gracing his features as he watched Oswald fuss over his hair. He was just about to make some smart comment when screeching wheels caught his attention. “Oswald get down!” he shouted as gun shots rang out, not even having time to look and see if the other was okay as he dove to the ground.  
    Oswald let out a cry as he felt a bullet pass through the flesh of his leg, unable to get down quickly enough. “Insult to injury, how humorous of our assailants,” he snarled, through gritted teeth when he noticed which leg was bleeding. He tried haphazardly to get up, stumbling when he was tugged to his feet. “Jim, I’m bleeding could you be a little kinder?” His eyes went wide when he noticed it was not Jim but Butch Gilzean that helped him up and was now dragging him to a van. “Jim!! Please help me!”  
    “Shit! Oswald I’m coming,” Jim hollered, trying to scramble up from the sidewalk and ignoring the shooting pain in his shoulder. "Oswald!!" He watched the van speed off. Jim cursed again, flipping out his phone. "We got a problem. The hit is off, Butch just took Oswald. We need to go after them so bring the car around."  
    Butch grinned, working to tie Oswald's hands behind his back as the van sped down the road. "Nice to see you again Oswald," he began conversationally. "Fish is gonna be happy to see you." He frowned when he heard gunshots. "James never knows when to quit does he? You'd think by this point he'd figure out you're not worth saving."  
    "He's a sucker for charity cases I suppose," Oswald mumbled softly, refusing to meet his former lackey's gaze as he tentatively tried pulling at his bonds, wincing when the wire cut into his skin.  
    Butch laughed, running a hand through Oswald's hair; gently at first before grabbing a chunk and using it to shake The Penguin. "You think you're a charity case...are you kidding me?" he retorted slamming Oswald's head into the side of the van before a bullet went flying past his head through the back window. "Dammit, gotta do everything myself." He pulled a gun out of his suit coat and went to take aim out the busted window.  
    Harvey sped through the darkened streets, weaving in and out of traffic trying to catch up with the van. "Oh, this is so exciting! I've never been in a car chase before!" Edward exclaimed from the back seat of the car where he sat squished in-between a bleeding Jim and Gabe, who was busy shooting out the side window. "Though I do believe you should step on the gas, Detective Bullock, or we'll never catch up with Mr. Cobblepot!"  
    "Shut it, Smarty, what does it look like I'm doing?!" Harvey snapped back, making a disgruntled face as the resident genius tried reaching for Harvey's gun. "What the hell are you doing, Ed?! I'm trying to drive!" he nearly hit the car in front of him, narrowly managing to swirve in time.  
    Ed grinned, almost grabbing his intended target buried in Harvey's coat. "Your gun, of course! You said I could earlier and this is a perfect opportunity to--" He let out a yelp when Harvey swerved hard again, this time to avoid Butch's goons' bullets. Instead of getting his hands on the gun he ended up with a face full of Harvey's crotch.  
    "Nygma, get your skinny ass in the backseat before I leave you on the side of the road!" Harvey hollared, wanting nothing more then to strange the idiot.  
    Victor rolled his eyes, trying to shoot out the van's tires as Jim pulled Ed back to his seat. "If you could get a little closer, Detective, I could get a better shot." the hit man mused a twitchy smirk on his face hoping to scare the other man into paying better attention. Harvey tried to do what was asked only to end up with the opposite outcome of what they were hoping for as the front tire blew and they skidded to a halt on the side of the road.  
    Butch smirked at his handwork of getting rid of Oswald’s company for the time being. “You alive over there, Penguin?” he mocked, kneeling down in front of Oswald as the van headed towards the club. “Fish would be pissed if I let you die before she gets a hold of you.” He smirked, fishing through Oswald’s pants pocket for his blade, slicing through part of his shirt to use it to tie off the bullet wound in his leg.  
    Oswald groaned, starting to come around when he felt Butch touch him. “Stay…away…” he slurred before realizing how close the other was seizing the opportunity to lash out, biting Butch's ear hard when he got close enough and not letting go until he drew blood.  
    Butch snarled, backhanding Oswald before bringing his hand to his ear to try to stop the bleeding. "The word of the day is compliance, Oswald," he whispered against The Penguin's ear as he held him up by a handful of hair. "We plan on teaching you all about it." He slammed the other's head into the side of the van again, hoping it would be enough to shut him up until they got back to the club.  
    Jim paced back and forth on the side of the road as Ed peered at the now shredded tire. "Well, if we just replaced the tire with the spare we can get on our merry way and catch up no problem, I assume." He remarked, adjusting his glasses with a smile. "We have a spare right?" Harvey grumbled in annoyance and threw his hands in the air.  
    "Yeah Ed, fix the tire...I'm sure it's in the trunk. Why don't you climb in and find out?" Harvey griped, rolling his eyes when Edward actually went to the trunk and opened it, rummaging around for the spare. "While you're at it, pull Cobblepot out of your ass so the Boy Scout doesn't have a brain aneurysm." Gabe frowned. It didn't seem like anyone was being overly serious anymore when Oswald's life was in real danger now that Fish was about to get her hands on him.  
    "I should hope Oswald isn't hiding anywhere near my ass, Detective Bullock," Edward retorted matter-of-factly, missing completely what the other had meant as Victor saved him from being shoved completely in the trunk by the annoyed man.  
    "Can we please get on with this instead of squabbling like teenage girls?" Victor snapped as he reloaded his gun. "I might as well get the girls and finish this, because sticking around you idiots is going to get me nowhere and Mr. Cobblepot six feet under." He let out a whistle, noticing Jim charge him and throwing a punch in the direction of his face. "Feel better James? You know you might want to take care of yourself before going after your friend." he pointed to Jim's still bleeding shoulder before he stuck the gun in the detective's face, licking blood from his own lip.  
    "No" Jim snarled, unfazed as he stared the assassin down. "You're gonna help me find Oswald Cobblepot and we're gonna go right now before something else bad happens."  
  
    Fish smiled hearing the door open. "Ah Butch, you're back," she called out as her right hand man entered the still-destroyed club. "And you brought me a gift." She stood to regard her former umbrella boy, who was being dragged in unconscious by Butch. "My little Penguin...."  
    "The one and only," Butch declared, dropping Oswald on one of the large blood stains still present on the floor. "Still annoying as ever." He showed off the bleeding ear. "Do you know Penguins bite?" Butch sughed as Fish offered a few towels to hold onto the oozing wound.  
    "No...I didn't..." Fish replied flatly, eying the bound man at her feet. She kicked him hard in the stomach, the pained whimper sounding oddly satisfying to her ears. "Wake up, my pretty Penguin..." She rolled him over with her foot and dug her stiletto heel into the open gunshot wound in his leg.  
    Oswald screamed, his eyes snapping open in a panic as he tried to scramble to get away as Fish swiveled her ankle to go deeper. "Please......stop....." he begged trying his best to curl up, not really realizing where he was or who was attacking him at the moment.  
    "Begging....so soon. Do you hear that Butch?" Fish cackled, bending down to his level so she could grab a hold of his chin. "Weak....just like your mother. Do you remember her begging for your pathetic life, Oswald?" She back handed him, a ring catching the corner of The Penguin's eye, making him look like he was crying as she ground his head into the bloodstained floor. "I didn't bother to clean her up off the floor. I knew you'd be too lonely without that crazy old woman. Such a momma's boy," she tsked when Oswald seemed to completely break down, choking back a sob. It all annoyed Fish; seemed too easy a task when she didn't want him to break already. "What happened to being the great King of Gotham, Oswald? Last I checked a king doesn't beg." She laughed, offering him the umbrella that had been propped up against the bar, only to have Oswald spit blood in her face.  
    Oswald panted heavily, trying to get his wits about him; if he didn't figure out how to get out of here he could consider himself a dead man. "Is that it? A few splatters of blood and some mean words?" he wheezed with a slight chuckle to his voice as Fish glared daggers at him. In hindsight it probably wasn't the brightest idea to incite the wrath of his former boss, but Oswald was praying it could buy him some much needed time so that Victor could hopefully lead Jim to where he was to save the day. "If you're going to kill me, you might as well get on with..." his words were cut off as a gun was shoved in his mouth to silence him, clicking as the hammer was pulled back.  
    Fish smiled, noticing Oswald's eyes go wide. "Betrayal is bad on its own, Little Oswald....especially after I took you in as my own," she cooed, brushing his matted, blood-soaked bangs out of his face so she could drink in all Oswald's expressions of fear. "What the problem is, dear, is that you pushed me off a building and left me for dead, and then took all the glory thinking you're some badass, when you're nothing but a little punk ass bitch." She dug her nails into the side of his face, enjoying the muffled screams. "A word of advice; if you're going to kill someone, make sure they stay dead. Like your mother, for instance."  
    "Miss Mooney, please..." Oswald cried out, his voice muffled around the weapon, his body going ridged when Fish kissed his forehead. She was going to kill him; a lame way at that, but at least it would be quick, so maybe he shouldn't complain. Oswald was so preoccupied with thinking he was going to die that he failed to notice Butch dragging out the decomposing body of his mother. The smell of death hitting him was the first thing to bring him back to his senses as Fish discarded the gun and dragged him over to the body, dropping him ontop of Gurturde. Oswald let out a shriek trying his best to turn away, tears streaming down his face when Fish cupped his chin roughly to make him look at her.  
    "This is what happens when you cross me, Oswald," Fish whispered, licking up his tears. "I'm not a completely cruel women though; I had Butch dig a grave for her. Though he's got a bad, back you know, so there's just one. I figured you could join her; that way you'd have company while you suffocate to death." She smirked at the look of utter horror that crossed The Penguin's face as Butch hauled him to his feet.  
    "Miss Mooney, reconsider! Please....!" Oswald implored as he was roughly dragged away, another lackey moving to bring the dead body along with them. "Miss Mooney!!!"  
    "Good bye, Oswald!" Fish called gleefully as she poured herself a drink. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was fun for everyone involved I'm sure~ Please look forward to the next chapter soon! As always, I'm curious to see what everyone thinks so leave a note and send me some love. <3 =3


	6. Black is the Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Funny enough I thought this would be the easiest chapter to write...BOY WAS I WRONG ON THAT! Mainly because life happened and the muses really weren't behaving and I'm like "Oswald do you wanna get dug out of that hole?!" 
> 
> In any case it's done now and I hope everyone enjoys it! I really worked hard on it!
> 
> thanks to my lovely helpers as always <3

    Jim groaned, annoyed as he let Gabe stitch up and bandage the open gunshot wound from earlier while Victor gathered more intel on where Ms. Mooney could be hiding out. "You wanna pull a little tighter," his voice held a joking tone, since he could tell the big guy was on edge, "I don't think you've quite cut off the blood supply to my arm yet." He winced when he felt Gabe pull tighter, apparently joking was not the best way to go about defusing the angry henchmen.  
    "What was that Gordon? It's too loose?" Gabe sneered grabbing a hold of Jim by the collar of his shirt. The henchman snarled into the detectives face as he pulled him closer. "You let my Boss out of your sight, so this is on you. If Oswald dies so do you. Do I make myself clear?"  
    Jim frowned at the accusation or even the thought that he purposely let Oswald be taken stung him. "It's not like I meant for Fish to get ahold of him again, I didn't even want him leaving Victor's!" He shot back, taking an angry swing at the clearly larger man. Gabe smirked before easily catching the punch in his ape like hand. He began twisting Jim's arm painfully, clearly wanting to break it until Victor's whistle made him think twice as he let the detective go. He turned his focus to the hitman hoping he had good news.  
    "She's at the club---How cliché that she would take Oswald there to kill him." Victor remarked with a sigh as he eyed the two. "Are you quite finished? I doubt she's going to toy with him very long if she knows we're coming for him."  
    Jim ripped Gabe's hand off his arm and stormed past Victor.  "Well then why are we just standing around here?" he snarled nodding to Harvey that they were leaving.  
    "Is it really wise to storm in there Detective Gordon?" Ed inquired adjusting his glasses as Harvey put on his hat and followed his partner, more than ready to end this and drink heavily afterward.  "Try to force her hand and she'll just kill Mr. Cobblepot, she holds all the cards so to speak." Victor smirked, eyeing Ed, he liked that one---he was smart. The detectives on the other hand… Victor wouldn't mind if Fish happened to take out her aggression on one of them. "Are you listening, Detective Gordon!?" he followed the other outside only to end up with the barrel of a gun shoved in his face.  
    "For just once in your life shut the hell up, Ed." Jim snapped before he even realized what he was saying "Either you're going to help me or you can get the hell out of my way. I don't have time to waste." He put the weapon away and stormed off to the car.  
  
   
    Blackness, complete and utter darkness greet Oswald when he finally opened his eyes. Blinking a few times he pondered if he had lost his sight. Then his foggy mind pieced together that his situation was far worse than that. "Butch!" he screamed, his words slurring heavily as he went to move his arms to feel his surroundings. The smooth feeling of the plywood box confirmed his fears that he was actually six feet under; helpless unless Jim could figure out where he was as he tried to think back on the last few hours. Lots of screaming. He vaguely remembered Butch shoving something into his mouth and then nothing. "Fish! I'm gonna kill you if it's the last thing I do!!" he screamed, feeling like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs as he started clawing at the top of the box, not even realizing that his fingers were bleeding until he felt warm, wet drops on his face. "Get it together, Oswald, if you panic you die..." he said to himself closing his eyes feeling tears threatening to fall. ”Jim....please come find me..."   
    Oswald tried to take a deep breath in order to calm himself, decieding to rummage through his pockets to see if he was left anything useful. Pack of gum, lint, he frowned at the useless discoveries checking his other pocket to find his beloved switch blade and his phone. He was in luck! He may not know where he exactly was but he could call Jim, and should Jim fail he had a better way out then suffocating he mused to himself as he forced his shaking, bleeding fingers to hunt for the Detetive's number not even noticing he didn't have much battery left.  
  
   
     "Well, well...well...if it isn't the great James Gordon" Fish mocked as Jim and the rest of the rag tag, mismatch group entered the shot up club.  Weapons being pointed in the Mobster's direction. "I assume you're looking for your beloved little snitch?" she got up from the bar, drink in hand, as she approached Jim as he trained his gun on her.  
    Harvey sighed when Jim pulled back the hammer aiming it at Fish's head where she stood "Hey, hey! No need to get so angry right off the bat, Jimbo" he remarked as he tried to push the weapon down to his side, not wanting him to exactly blow his ex-lover's head off. "Just here to talk...he's kind of attached to that snitch." Fish simply laughed as if it were the funniest thing she'd ever heard.  
    "You need weapons to come talk to me, Harvey?" Fish inquired, her voice silky knowing just how to make the detective melt, having known him for so many years. "I'm a civil lady..." she eyed Jim, who was standing too close for comfort, gun pointed in her face. “When it doesn't have to deal with that impetuous Umbrella Boy."  
    Jim snapped at the comment as he shoved her up against the wall ignoring his partner's protests. "You have about five seconds to cough up Oswald Cobblepot before I put a bullet in your..." he trailed off as she waved a finger in his face, completely unfazed by the outburst.  
    "Oh no dear, you kill me and you'll never find the little snitch...trust me on that one" Fish stated matter-of-factly as Jim heard his phone go off. "By all means don't let me keep you from an important phone call." She cooed having a feeling she knew who was calling by the look on Jim's face when he answered the phone finally. "My little Penguin wanting to say his good-byes," she cackled.  
    "Woah, Oswald....Oswald...calm down!" Jim shouted trying to get a word in with the clearly panicked man. "Where are you? What do you see, I swear I'm coming to get you...we're not going to leave you." he frowned, never having heard Oswald get so worked up over anything before.  
    Oswald was near hysterics, Jim could barely understand him. "She buried me alive!!!" he screamed, Jim moved the phone away from his ear allowing Harvey to catch the words. "It's dark! I'm bleeding and slowly suffocating in a box that only God knows how far underground or where!" he let out a sob which made Jim's heart drop. "Jim, I'm scared...I'm not getting out of this am I? Please don't leave me...my phone is going dead" he started to cry. "I don't want to die, Jim, not like this...I mean she left my knife...." Jim cut him off unbelieving what he just heard.  
    "Don't even think like that, I'll get you out" Jim promised, trying to sooth and offer some hope to the frightened man "We have Fish and I will let Victor tear her apart if it means I can find you, but right now you need to hang up so you still have some battery so I can call you again." another sob and Oswald begging Jim to stay with him.  
     "You couldn't just tie him up and shove him somewhere?" Harvey whispered a deep frown on his face as he listened to the conversation knowing there was no way Jim was going to let this go and that meant Fish was as good as dead. "He mighta looked good from the ceiling, now how am I gonna save you Fish?" he sighed loudly.  
    Fish smiled, moving closer, kissing Harvey if nothing else to shut him up for a moment. "I don't need saving" she whispered before being roughly shoved away and pinned against the wall. "How is my dear Oswald? Butch must be going soft if he left his phone..." she smirked, as Jim pulled back his arm and closed his fist, fully intent on letting out his rage.  
    Victor let out a loud whistle as he came back from around the back of the stage with Gabe and Ed each pointing guns at a nervous looking Butch. "Detectives!" he announced as Ed poked Butch with his gun to get him to keep moving into the middle of the room. "I found my good friend, Mr. Gilzean, and it seems he's kind enough to tell us where our little bird is caged." He pat Ed's head, he really would have to get this one to help him more often--with a little training of course.  
    "Look! I helped! Victor says I'm perfect for this kind of thing." Ed exclaimed, excited while Gabe rolled his eyes moving to point his gun at Fish; angry for everything she'd put his Boss through.  
    Harvey chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Yeah Ed, good work" He commented watching him beam at the praise. "Though now you gotta go find The Penguin---so you go with Zsasz and the Ladies, and we'll stay here and keep her from going anywhere." he moved to grab Jim's arm when he tried to follow the group out. "No Jim, stay...you'll do better here than if you smother Cobblepot the second he's pulled out of the ground."  
  
     "If I was you, Mr. Gilzean, I would drive faster," Victor remarked as he pulled back the hammer on the gun he had pointed at the back of Butch’s head. He nervously drove outside of town as he tried to remember exactly where he had buried Oswald. "And pray you have good memory, because if the Little Prince dies...so do you."  
    Butch rolled his eyes as he tried to ignore Victor. "I have a feeling that I'm going to end up that way regardless…" he grumbled annoyed that the entire plan was blowing up in their faces. He'd tried to warn Fish not to sit and toy with the Kid, but she had her ways and now they were going to pay for it without even getting rid of Cobblepot so really everything was ending up for nothing.   
    Ed looked thoughtful as he waved his own weapon before one of the girls moved to grab it, putting her hand over his and down in his lap. "The probability of you dying has much higher odds than you living...but, if Oswald is alive, it could possibly grant you more favor of being allowed to keep breathing. Right Victor?" He piped cheerfully as Butch pulled off onto dirt road seeming to be searching for something "Are you lost?"  
    "I'm not lost Nerd..." Butch snapped as he pulled over by a large birch tree. "Lucky for him I half a mind to pick a spot I could remember," he sighed as he got out of the car. The girls kept their guns pointed at him while Victor forcefully handed him a shovel. "What the hell is this for?"  
    "Does it look like The Penguin is going to dig himself out, Mr. Gilzean?" Victor inquired as Ed also grabbed a shovel hoping that with more than one person they'd get to Oswald faster. "So, start digging before I just decide to bludgeon you to death and let Riddles here dig up our potted Penguin." Ed laughed at the hitman's joke as Butch got to work digging up what he'd just worked so hard to bury.  
    "Now I know how a dog feels…" Butch grumbled, making sure to throw the dirt in Victor's direction, trying to ignore the guns pointed at him as Ed seemed to be overly cheerful about the whole situation.  
    Ed grinned, happy he'd been included on this little adventure even if it meant blood, danger, and possibly death. "Mr. Gilzean was it?" He began, receiving an exasperated expression and a face full of dirt from the large man. This behavior ended quickly as the barrel of Victor's gun jammed against his temple. Ed giggled at the sight as he thought of how amusing such an action on Butch's part could get such an intense reaction from the hitman. "Why is a tree like a big dog?!"  
    Butch rolled his eyes figuring it was either answer or get shot in the head. "I have no idea...do tell kid" he sighed, hoping to God they struck the makeshift coffin soon.  
    "They both have a lot of bark!" Ed exclaimed as he grinned like an idiot. The girls both looked at each other while Victor chuckled softly, if nothing else then to make the other happy. "I think I hit a box! A Penguin box!" he began shoveling quicker to try to get the top of it. "Mr. Cobble---Oswald! Can you hear us?!" he tapped on the top with the shovel frowning when he got no response.  
    Victor frowned as well, whistling. "Hurry it up boys!" He commanded, the two taking another ten minutes to get the top of the make shift coffin open. Butch took his shovel to crack up the top, the nails groaning in protest to reveal one Oswald Cobblepot. Victor grinned looking him over, noticing how his chest rose and fell ever so slightly. "The Penguin harvest looks splendid this year, don't you think Riddles?!"  
    "You don't plant Penguins in the ground, Victor" Ed whined softly kneeling down to check Oswald over. His pulse was rapid and his skin seemed near white with a cold, clammy feel. "He's bleeding bad...no wonder he's so pale, we needed to get him back like hours ago..." he frowned as Butch picked him up handing him to Victor, one of the girls moving to get the blanket they'd brought out of the car.  
    Oswald's head lulled against Victor's chest, his body trembling as the assassin tried to get him situated in the blanket and hopefully wake him up. "Butch...your tie please" he barked out the order from where he knelt on the ground trying to get The Penguin semi-conscious. "And your suit coat...the poor Prince is cold" Butch rolled his eyes, but did what was asked handing off said items to Victor. "Now then, you've been a useful tool...but a tool none the less and now you've outlived your usefulness," he smirked and pointed his weapon at the henchmen who was backing up nearly tripping over the coffin that was still in the hole, "Good-bye Mr. Gilzean."  
    Ed screamed and covered his ears at the unexpected the shot as Butch dropped into the coffin; dead. "Hush Riddles, you're fine..." he smiled as Oswald squirmed. The noise apparently woke him as he worked on using the tie to wrap around some of the wounds before adding the suit coat around his already blanketed form.  
    Oswald whimpered, his eyes darting around frantic. "Jim..." he slurred his voice soft as he tried to reach for Victor. “I told them---I told them Jim...you loved me and would save me" he laughed almost hysterically before breaking out into coughing, his eyes starting to slip closed.  
    Victor frowned, patting Oswald's cheek trying to keep him conscious. "I'm going to kiss your boyfriend for you if you don't keep chattering your big mouth" he remarked hoping to get some kind of reaction. "Oswald, wake up...you have revenge to get and a city to run" Oswald eyed him again, dazed, letting out a cry of pain when Victor picked him up to bring him to the car. Ed had been hiding in the backseat ever since Butch had been shot.  
    "Can we go home now...I've had enough fun for one evening, thank you." Ed mumbled refusing to look Victor in the eye as he ended up with a lap full of gangster bird. "Oswald looks like he's going to die..." he paused when he felt Victor's fingers on his lips.  
    "I can fix him up, Riddles" Victor promised, feeling a strange need to sooth the other man. "Keep him awake and talking, if you can. I Won't let him die." He nodded to the girls to get in the car and help the poor panicked man out as he got in the driver’s seat and took off.  
  
  "Would you stop pacing...you're gonna make me motion sick" Harvey complained as he had his gun pointed half ass at Fish still hoping to somehow slink her away to safety. "Cobblepot will be fine...and if The Penguin is fine I'm pretty sure we can let Fish go this one time, so long as she agrees to stay away from the bird brain" He eyed his lady friend who was seated, sipping a drink at the bar like she didn't have a care in the world.  
    "You want my honesty on the situation, Harv?" Jim questioned staring down Fish who simply smiled at him in return. "I hope Oswald tears you apart." He looked like he would expand on his thought when his phone went off. "This is Gordon" Harvey raised a brow at the look of relief that washed over his partner's face as he finished his short conversation.  
    "You gonna tell me what's up?" Harvey inquired, as he poured himself a drink, knowing that he was going to need it as Jim shot Lee a text hoping she wouldn't be too angry with him for having to help again.  
    "Victor and Ed found Oswald, they're almost here so I'm going to text Lee to see if she can help." Jim answered pulling out his hand cuffs fully intent on restraining Fish Mooney. "He's not doing too great which means I'm arresting her until he's well enough to decide what he wants to do."  
    Fish smirked standing up to stare Jim down as if daring him to try anything. "And you'll just look away while my dear Penguin has his revenge for his Mother? I didn't think it'd be him to corrupt you James." She remarked sharply, before laughing. "I was right to call you a sinner, just like the rest of us! Oswald got what he deserved after throwing me off the roof and leaving me for dead."   
    Jim shrugged smirking. "Couldn't have been that bad, you lived." He chuckled, putting one cuff on before being distracted by Gabe shouting 'Boss' when Victor came through the door holding Oswald close. Ed and the girls followed close behind. "Shit....Oswald..." he ran to Victor to look Oswald over, woried at how bad his injuries were. “Lee is coming, she says she can get him stable..." he felt frantic, moving to touch Oswald's face gently in hopes of waking him up.  
     "Jim?" Oswald slurred, his eyes barely open. "Jim...I don't feel good"  
    Jim smiled, brushing his hair out of his face. "I know...we'll get you fixed up okay" he promised "It's okay now, you're safe"  
    "I'll do what I can to help, he's been talking on and off the whole car ride" Victor explained, smirking that Oswald seemed to come around at the sound of Jim's voice. "First he thought I was you, and then when he realized you weren't there he kept asking when you would come rescue him." He chuckled before noticing Mooney move out of the corner of his eye.  
    Jim sighed taking Penguin from Victor in case he would need to draw his gun. "Good help is really so hard to find these days seeing that Butch failed me." Fish remarked as she noticed that Mr. Gilzean was nowhere to be seen before she set her sights on her former Umbrella boy as she walked towards him slowly. "What was that you use to tell me, Oswald? If you want something done right you have to do it yourself." she cackled as time seemed to slow down, gunshots ringing out in the club and blood spattering everywhere, leaving Fish dead on the ground.  
    "Oswald?" Jim questioned shaking the man in his arms when he noticed blood on his shirt and The Penguin's head slumped against his chest. "Oswald!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I suppose till next time! Hopefully this next chapter is less of a bitch to write  
> expect more warm fuzzies and less blood in the next one!
> 
> See you soon! Can't wait to read you're lovely comments (as they keep me going along with drowning myself in coffee)

**Author's Note:**

> Well if you're reading the ending notes~ Congratz you made it through the first chapter (and enjoyed it xD)
> 
> Till next time <3


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